A brilliant post from an experienced academic on retirement.
On salaries in academia. In the meanwhile, we can’t spare 5 bucks from our departmental money to buy a pizza to reward our minimal salary lab workers for their hard work.
Libertarian slogans that are false. Part I and Part II. The discussions that follow the posts are also fascinating.
How to avoid writing fatigue. I agree completely with this advice.
It seems like it pays off to be a former bloody colonizer.
An anti-Semitic vodka billboard in New York.
Vulva cupcakes. (Don’t follow the link if you are at work). My reaction is “bleh.” What’s yours? Contrary to this blogger’s opinion, I find this desert gross not because I find female genitals gross but because the idea of food shaped as any body part is disgusting to me. A cake in the form of a finger or an eye would be just as gross.
A fantastic post on why it’s a brilliant idea to date a feminist.
It’s nice to see that I’m not the only academic weirded out by Academia. edu.
On why you shouldn’t watch the latest installment in the stupid and ideologically manipulative Twilight series. Please, people, there is so much stuff to see and read in the world. Why invest money in supporting this kind of creepazoid organization?
“A lot of people complain that there is too much sexualization, that everything is about selling sex. I actually think there might be too little sexualization.” Finally, a voice of reason on sexualization! Yippee!
“The shift from “talk therapy” to drugs as the dominant mode of treatment coincides with the emergence over the past four decades of the theory that mental illness is caused primarily by chemical imbalances in the brain that can be corrected by specific drugs.” The real tragedy is that so many people bought into this vicious profit-driven lie about chemical imbalances in the brain and are falling over themselves in their rush to help pharmaceutical companies to make more money.
A fascinating article on life in Iran.
A really insightful post about the need to stop focusing on longevity as the only factor in disease prevention and treatment. I really like the way this blogger thinks. She always has an original take on things, so I highly recommend.
I have no idea why this blogger dislikes bibliography-dumping. I, for one, wish it happened to me a lot more often.
“As a craft, American mainstream movies are all but dead, more the product of the merchandising department than filmmakers. American movies have replaced story and character and emotion with spectacle and noise.” I agree with this completely, except the “but.” They are dead, period. Of course, I’m not sure they were ever born, to be honest. I don’t think that film as a form of art ever existed in the US.
Clarissa's Blog 
I Didn’t Mean You — Someone I know posted a fat joke online, then tried to backpedal when I took issue with it.
Also, I’m starting a DailyDose of Yoga challenge in December for anyone who’s interested.
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As for the vulva cupcakes, I’m rather impressed by the pic since it looks like the decorator went out of their way to include a variety of labial and clitoral shapes, sizes, and colors. That said, I would not want to eat one personally for the same reason I tend not to want to eat a lot of more “decorative” baked goods: Those look like they have a lot of sugary frosting on top, which is not to my (literal) taste.
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I was going to leave a comment to the effect of “Doesn’t anybody remember Judy Chicago !!?!”, but at least one commenter on the post you link does check that name. Still, really, in American art we’ve had O’Keeffe’s barely dissembled vulvae and Chicago’s triumphantly arrayed variations — what’s new here in the cupcakes?
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Since you’re all about all things academia, I came to promote this link, if nothing else for the lively and seemingly thoughtful comment stream.
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I saw the cupcakes a couple of days ago and I liked it!
Don’t know if I would eat one, but I definitely respect the craftmanship and effort that went into this. Also, I think it is a pretty funny idea.
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Talking about movies: Did you know they are apparently making a CSI Movie? 😀
Also: The salvation army is a church? I didn’t know that oO
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I’m glad you started doing these sunday link posts. Other blogs do this, too, yours have consistently the most eclectic and thought-provoking links.
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Yay! I’m glad you like the links! This means I didn’t develop such a huge blogroll for nothing.
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I’ve ended re-reading today Betty Smith’s “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” and couldn’t put it down until the end, which is rare for me lately. I thought you could love it. It’s a coming of age story of Francie Nolan in ~1912, but much more than that: her immigrant grandparents, the love and life story of Francie’s 1st generation American parents, aunts, etc all play a big part. Imo the book shows gender relations and class wonderfully, f.e. we (and Francie) see that people who rised to better life don’t always feel sympathy to the left behind. There is even a great (from literary, not moral, pov) lecture “I was poor too” from a person who has always been well off. I also loved how she learns that other women, suffering from the same social norms, shouldn’t be expected to be a friend (in today’s language “oppressed supporting the oppression”). When the book was published and quickly became super-popular in 1940-ies, it was criticized for being pro-worker unions and also for frank treatment of “sexuality”, which I see in practice meaning here “gender relations”. Except all this ideology, it’s written in a simple, but eloquent way, the characters feel alive and not one of them left me indifferent.
It’s on-line here, possible to check whether you’ll like it:
http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060736262&WT.mc_id=REFL_TREEBROOKLYNFA_HCFL&WT.mc_id=POSTS_HarperAcademicBlog_092608
In case you read, would love to hear your thoughts.
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You are very good at getting people to read. Have you thought about becoming a literature professor? 🙂
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